Pierogi Fest, that wacky, zany festival held the last full weekend of July in Downtown Whiting, Indiana is proud to announce that it has chosen Tony Panek to be the new Mr. Pierogi, a key character of the annual event!
Panek is of Polish descent and was raised in the city of East Chicago, IN. He graduated from Purdue University Northwest with a degree in Communications and works at WJOB/JEDtv in Hammond where he is both an on-air afternoon radio talk show host on WJOB 1230AM and 104.7 FM, as well as a producer of many of the station’s programs.
As a lifelong resident of Northwest Indiana, Tony stated, “I have been attending Pierogi Fest since I was a kid and I am thrilled to be the next Mr. Pierogi. It is an honor and a privilege to step into this role. Attending Pierogi Fest each and every year I could never have imagined I would actually become Mr. Pierogi. I’m looking forward to having fun with each and every one in attendance!”
“Mr. Pierogi is the face of the festival,” stated Tom Dabertin, Chairman of Pierogi Fest. “He is our ambassador throughout the year at events throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, and we felt that Tony was the perfect personification of Mr. Pierogi. He will be a great addition to this incredible festival.”
Pierogi Fest, one the Chicago area’s largest events and organized entirely by volunteers, has earned a number of accolades including:
· Readers Digest: One of America’s 50 best festivals
· MSN Eat This not That - One of the 50 best food festivals in the US
· TripAdvisor- One of the 10 wackiest festivals on the planet
· One of the 25 best food festivals in North America by Saveur Magazine
· Pierogi Fest was the subject of a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal in 2015
· Named by Oprah Winfrey for five years straight as one of her favorite things to do
· Named for 19 consecutive years as the Times of Northwest Indiana's Best Festival
· A Blue-Ribbon Festival of Summer in 2013 by Yahoo.com
· The Heritage Award from the Polish National Congress
· Featured on The Food Channel, Travel Channel, Pawn Stars Chicago, Wild Chicago, Access Indiana, CNN, and television stations in Germany, Slovakia, Poland, China and Australia
· Best of Indy Honorable Mention as best local festival even though the festival is held 165 miles from Indianapolis
· Featured on the nationally syndicated television shows: Wild Travels and Small Town, Big Deal
· It has been consistently cited as the most popular festival amongst extra-terrestrials when they are not buzzing US Navy fighter jets.